Saturday, November 25, 2023
Wednesday, July 12, 2023
Monday, July 10, 2023
Criminal
Careers and Communities in the United States: An Identity Network Perspective
Are
previously and currently incarcerated individuals boogiemen? Are they still
part of the family and community? These questions are on everyone’s mind even
though incarceration has decreased by about 9% since 2010. Between 25% to 45%
Americans have a family member or close friend who had/have been behind bars.
Racial/ethnic minorities are the majority
of the American inmates. Women’s incarceration rate has increased by 832% since
the 1980s, while women have been mostly involved in petty crimes and played
secondary roles in violent crimes. And the incarceration rate of women is still
rising when that for men has declined recently.
There
is a huge gap between criminal behavior and incarceration that should be
proportional to criminal behavior. Additionally, family members are crucial for
the start and the end of a criminal career, dependent on whether specific
family members support or oppose criminal behavior. Communities are also
crucial.
It is time to address the issue of perceptions
of various categories of people based on race and gender in the public and
private spheres.
Both
poor residents in cities, Adam Jones and Juliet Castro, received opposite
treatment for the same behavior of providing for their families.
Adam
Jones, a white man growing up in the 1970’s, resented his wife for her affair
because he supported her education. He killed his wife’s lover when confronting
his rival. He served fifteen years in prison and went on with his life with a
large circle of professional associates and family members.
Juliet
Castro, a Mexican American woman in her early twenties,
was the caretaker of the whole family. She dropped out at the eleventh grade to
work full time, so that she could take care of her children, and her husband
could finish school.
Juliet
Castro began to use drugs to numb herself, because her husband beat her and
fathered two children while she was pregnant with their second child. She was
incarcerated for drug use and was homeless.
Jackson Clinton, a white man with a well-paying job from the D.C. area,
contrasts even more with Juliet Castro. He molested his wife’s five-year-old
niece. His wife died within three years after the crime from cancer.
Rural
women’s experience was even more devastating when they were treated unfairly by
their perpetrators in collaboration with their kin. In many cases, the family
members of the perpetrators were part of the local legal system.
Race
and gender loom large in people’s criminality. This is supported by a
large-scale analysis in our book Criminal Careers and Communities in the
United States: An Identity Network Perspective.
To
read these personal stories and the analysis results of the average Americans’
criminality and desistance of criminal behavior, please be on the look out for
the book in stores in mid-July 2023.
Our
painstaking analysis of interviews, group discussions, and survey responses with
previously and currently incarcerated individuals are the basis of our opinion.
It is time to stop mass incarceration. It is high time to make decisions on
incarceration solely based on criminal behavior.
Cynthia Baiqing Zhang’s personal experience further substantiates the
content of our book. On February 12, 2021, the Yakima superior court in the
state of Washington dropped the domestic violence charges and constraints against
her in an online hearing, and ruled “release from detention (from 11pm November
23 to 4pm November 24, 2020) in the interest of justice.” It was two hours
before she was operated on for the latest stage of a contagious disease with a
fatality rate of 25%. In October 2020, she was already threatened with
firearms.
Cynthia Baiqing Zhang established an educational institute Evergreen
Campus LLC in December 2020 to teach financially challenged students.
The
social fabric is made up with people with various abilities and heritages. It
is important to focus on the numbers of lost property and lives.
We
plead to the audience and policy makers: please heed the stories that happened
to real people. Incarceration is the ultimate stigma that often results in life
long isolation and extreme difficulties. Caution and fairness is needed when it
comes to incarceration.
Recently,
three states – Washington, Colorado, and Maryland – passed gun control laws.
This provides more state level momentum to the bi-partisan Safer Communities
Act passed in June 2022. The fair practice of such laws hopefully can prevent
perpetrators from threatening others with firearms. And we look forward to more
solutions.
The
names of the interviewees are fake names to protect their identities.
Bios:
Cynthia Baiqing Zhang is a researcher in the areas of
criminology and criminal justice since 2013. Her graduate studies on American
Constitution and political system started in the 1990s.
Meredith L. Ille is a doctoral student with expertise
in social psychology and criminal justice.
Sunday, June 25, 2023
My New Book Co-authored with Meredith L. Ille 合著新书
Criminal Careers and Communities in the United States: An Identity Network perspective.
We appreciate all the support we have received! The book will be released on July 15, 2023.
To get 30% discount on hard cover and ebook, use code LXFANDF30 when ordering.
You can find the book online at Amazon, Lexington Books, and other books stores such as Barnes & Noble. You can also order via email and phone.
Links:
Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/Criminal-Careers-Communities-United-States/dp/1793648883/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1XFQP6FBLWMTY&keywords=cynthia+baiqing+zhang+identity&qid=1687749510&sprefix=%2Caps%2C127&sr=8-2
Lexington Books:
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793648891/Criminal-Careers-and-Communities-in-the-United-States-An-Identity-Network-Perspective
Barnes & Noble:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/criminal-careers-and-communities-in-the-united-states-cynthia-zhang/1143268810?ean=9781793648884
Monday, May 29, 2023
Thursday, May 25, 2023
Undergraduate Course: Research Methods in Social Sciences
本科课程：方法论
Course Website （课程网站）: https://cynthia-baiqing-zhang-s-school.teachable.com
This course is for financially challenged but motivated students. You can find the information of the educational institute at: https://cynthiazhang7.wixsite.com/baiqing/about-us-story
该课针对经济困难但是好学的学生。该校的信息请参阅网站：https://cynthiazhang7.wixsite.com/baiqing/about-us-story
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